Message from His Imperial Majesty Haile
Selassie I delivered by His Imperial
Highness
Prince Sahle Selassie at the Conference
of
Independent African States in Accra,
held from .
Tuesday, April 15 until Thursday, April 24, 1958.
"On this most momentous of
occasions, when
responsible statesmen representing the
free countries
of Africa are gathered together to
consider common
problems, We send to the Conference of
Independent
African States Our warmest greetings and
Our prayers
for the success of the cause which has
brought our
governments together. This Conference
marks the first
occasion on which the independent
nations of Africa
have gathered together to discuss
questions which are
common to all of them and to Africa, and
is thus the first
step into a new and promising era for
this great continent.
As an integral part of Africa, Ethiopia
looks back
with pride to the role which she has
played in the history
of Africa's development. With the other
great and free
nations assembled today in Ghana,
Ethiopia contemplates
the future of Africa with confidence.
The free nations of Africa must
recognize the
potential force which they represent for
the achieving
of a permanent and enduring peace among
the nations
of the world. As the human and material
wealth which
Africa represents grows and develops,
the African peoples
will become an increasingly powerful
force in the world's
councils. It is our duty to insure that the weight of
Africa's prestige and power is enlisted
on the side of
peace, for another conflict such as
these as the world has
witnessed in the past forty years might
well spell the
doom and destruction of all mankind.
As this Conference is inaugurated, We
would also
urge that the representatives assembled in Ghana never
lose sight of the basic need to bring to
increasingly large
numbers of people in Africa the benefits
of modern scientific
and technological advances. Mankind
today has
reached a level of material achivement
never before realized in
the world's history, and it is an
important
mission of the Independent African
States to insure
that these benefits are guaranteed to
all the peoples of
Africa and to eliminate poverty,
backwardness and
illiteracy from the African continent.
We would, moreover, have the Conference
remember
not only that the eyes of the other
nations are upon it,
but that countless millions to whom
freedom is no more
than a far-distant goal are watching
this gathering.
This Conference must demonstrate to the
whole world
that the free nations of Africa prize
their independence
and freedom and, more important, are
determined to
apply them to the furtherance of
co-operation among
themselves and with men of good will
everywhere, on the
basis of the Charter of the United
Nations and the
principles of Bandung. If it is to
succeed, this Conference
must also serve as a symbol and an
example to the peoples
of this great continent of Ours who are
still labouring to
attain their independence and encourage
and sustain
them by our testimony that the reward is
worth the
struggle. Conscious of the overwhelming
importance for
Africa and the world of these
principles, We assure the
Independent African States that
Ethiopia's devotion
to them and her support of the common
cause of Africa
and the African peoples shall, as
always, be unswerving
and steadfast.
We ask Almighty God to bless the
Conference in
its work, to bestow upon the gathered
representatives the
wisdom, strength and vision requisite to
their labours and
to crown their efforts with success,"
Speeches delivered by His Imperial Majesty Haile
Selassie Ist Emperor of Ethiopia on various occasions - page 52 -
 |
| Eastern African Heads of State Conference, Kampala Uganda, 1967 |
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen